Improvement in machine for grating- fodder



To all whom it may concern:

saca. sata geen JASON LUsK, for. FRE DONIA, MICHLLGAN.

l 11mmPtenv1v0..e7,573,datedMarcho,1869..

Im'RovntmNT IN MACHINE :nonl GRATING romarin.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making of the same.

Be it known that I, JASONLUSK, of the town of Fredonia, in the county of Calhoun, and State ofMicliigan,- have invented a new andl useful Machine for Grating 'and Scarifying Dry Fodder, of any description, after it has been cut up; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,

reference being had to the. annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view.

Figure 2 is a longitudinalvertioal section Similar letters of reference indicate like parts inzthe several gures.

' The natureof my invention consists in passing cut fodder between a swiftly-revolving cylinder' and a stai tionary concave, both of which are furnished with teeth closely set together, and having pyramidal points,- the several parts constituting the machine being arranged and adjusted as hereinafter described; and-the better .to enable others skilled in agricultural mechanism to construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A c represent, respectively, the posts and rails, and

B b, the sills and girts of the frame of my machine, within which the grating and slitting-cylinder G and the concave D are hung, substantially in the manner of a threshing-machine, with these exceptions, that the teeth ofthe cylinder and concave do not overlap each other in my machine, and, the cylinders motion, (as shown by the arrow,) is-from the feeding-board,-in stead of toward it.

I 'han g my concave within the frame in suoli 'manner that it may be adjusted more or less eccentricall y with the cylinder; that is to say, while the lower vsection of the concave, atxthe discharge-line, is so adjusted in relation with the cylinder, that the points of the teeth of each nearly touch each other, the upper or receiving-line may be caused to diverge, more or less, so that," the fodder, asY it is drawn in, may pass `through a space proportionedfto its nature and bulk, and which gradually narrows toward the discharge.

The concave is sustained and adjusted vertically, upon hangers, H, which slide between. the frame-posts,` the adjustment being effected by set-bolts, i, the heads of which abut on top of the girtsm-arked 11, and the upper portion of the curve is adjusted and held horizontally by the two adjusting-bolts j, (see dotted. lines,) in the cross-bar'E, which bolts screw into nuts,let in the cleats g, which connect the upper sections of the concave together.

y A detachable panel, (not shown,) having a curved lining-piece, to fill the space above the'hangers, and enclose the concave laterally, is fitted in on each side,l between the posts, when the machine is at work.

The cylindrical surface of thecylinder is covered with sheet-i1'on,afterA being turned true in a lathe, being built up usually o f thick staves, properly secured to cast-heads, keyed on the shaft.

The concave is also built in sections, and covered with sheet-iron, before the insertion df the 'teeth t, which I will now describe.

I usually construct the teeth of both cylinder and concave alike, of steel, with slightly-tapersha-nks, driven firmly into the wood. The projecting points are shaped like a four-sided pyramid, with sharp apex and angles', the sides standing parallel, and ata right angle with the cylinder-s axis.

I do not set theseteeth in rows around the periphery, but distribute them suiiiciently close together, and

in such manner, over both cylinder and concave, as will dlive the cnt fodder through in a tortuous or zigzag course, best calculated to scarify, scratch, slit, and abrade the hard and stiff exterior of the cut fodder,

'which is the object principally in view.

F represents the feed-board ofthe hopper M, the front side ofwhich is shown as broken away, to exhibit the cylinder, and

I isa gate, sliding in the hopper-sides, to gauge the `supply to the concave.

' vMy grating-machine may be used as a separate machine, the fodder beingiirst cut short, and then shov elled into the hopper; or the fodder, as it is out in a cutting-box, may be conveyed to it upon an endless apron; or, better still, the grating-machine may be 4so combined with a feed-cutter, that by a proper arrangement of the planes of level and transmission of power,

the fodder, as it is cut, may fall into the hopper of the gratter, and thus effect the cutting `and grating in one continuous operation.

When the cylinder 0 is rapidly revolved in the direction of the arrow, by means of a belt passing o ver the pulley PJ or by gears, driven by any suitable power, and the cut fodder is fed into the hopper, it is drawn .by the cylinderfteeth, as fast as may be desired, under nearly vertical tangential line, without injury to the machine or ope'tor.

v The necessity and advantage of grating and slitting or scarif'ing fodder, after it is cut, and before it is eaten by animals, a'rise from the fact that dry fodder, espe ciali) corn-stalk, has a hard andstifi exterior, and when simply cut short, as usual, th cut ends operate like knife-blades, and so irritate the gums of animals that they soon reject the sharp-pointed pieces, es-

pecially thosenear the but, which contain the largest quantity of nutritive matter. l

I know that machines, which operate by a crushing or bruising action, have been unsuccessfully used to remove the hard, glassy exterior of cut fodder, and so soften it as to t it for use; but crushing it does not blunt the cut ends-which is the main object to be accomplished.

My pyramidal-pointed steel teeth t operate in an entirely different manner upon cut fodder. The sharp apex-points scarify and slit the harsh,wiry stems, and the smooth, hard exterior and sharp-cut ends, are thoroughly abraded and blunt'ed in the zigzag course, among the sharp cutting and grating angles'of the teeth, as aforesaid.

The action of my cylinder and concave teeth, being of a cutting and scraping nature, instead of a crushing or bruising one, the cylinder may be run at a high speed, with less expenditure of power.

1 ain aware that machines for cutting and crushing corn-fodder have been used, in which the fodder is passed between a rotary toothed cylinder anda toothed concave, and is cut and crushed by the action of the teeth, which are made to interlock with each other,

the concave being continually pressed againstv the cyl inder by weighted levers; but I disclaim all such niachines, in which the teeth of the concave interlock with those of the cylinder, as, by such interlocking, a result is produced entirely contrary to that which I have aimed to secure.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is this:

Tbetoothed concave D, eceentrically adjustable by means of the screws t' and j, when so arranged, with relation to the toothed cylinder C, that said toothed surfaces are removed from contact with each other, and a clear space is formed, gradually tapering, between them, whereby the fodder is not cut and crushed, but relieved of its hard covering and ends, as and for the purpose herein shown and described.

JASON LUSK. Witnesses:

C. H. GooK, JOHN STEWART. 

